Cynthia Enloe’s work titled The Curious Feminist, searches for modern women in a new age of empire. Chapter 3 & 4 titled, ‘The Globetrotting Sneakers’ and ‘Daughters and Generals’ discusses the growing implications for women of global corporations interest in third world countries. Enloe begins her discussion with the fall of the Berlin wall. This historic event allowed capitalism to flow into untapped markets, such as Moscow. Companies such as Reebok successfully exploited this new market. Suddenly young teenagers desired fashionable, athletic footwear. Unfortunately, the shoes retailed at $100, when the average Russian earned approximately $40/month. Additionally, 60% of single Russian parents were living in poverty and were also women. Not coincidentally, it is disproportionately women who are working in sweat shops to make these sneakers. The conditions are sub-par and the women also earn menial wages. When looking at the chart of pg. 54 we see that in 1993, hourly wages for workers in footwear factories were:
China = $.10- .14
Indonesia= $.16- .20
Thailand= $.65- .74
S. Korea= $2.02- 2.27
USA= $7.38- 7.94
The pay discrepancies are astounding. When looking at South Korea we get an insight on why this occurred. South Korean women are strong believers in Confucian philosophy, which promotes self sacrifice for the betterment of the family. There is also a strict obedience of patriarchy and men’s rule. Additionally, in order to marry a man, women are expected to pay their own dowry to their husband’s family. Thus, they are supporting both their family and putting money aside to pay for their future marriage. In 1980, when women started to reject this notion, they began to organize and protest dangerous conditions and low wages. In response, the government sent in riot police, who sexually assaulted and raped some of the female protestors. Obviously none of this is good for companies such as Nike or Reebok. They want workers who accept low wages and unsafe conditions because they are dependent on the money to fulfill their traditional roles. Thus, the companies move their factories to other third world countries. The women who were now jobless moved into the city and found employment at massage parlors or strip clubs- yay to another form of female exploitation. American executives knew exactly what was going on in these countries and factories and sought to exploit the bad situation.
When the news of such sweat-shops reached the United States there was an initial backlash. People were appauled that big brand name companies would support such poor standards of living. However, the general public soon realized that they for the most part benefited from the exploitation of cheap labor. We get cheaper shoes, because the companies pay less to have them produced. Of course on the other hand, thousands of U.S factories are shut down, leaving many Americans unemployed. 
No comments:
Post a Comment